Namesake Cake: Chili Chocolate Torte

Our namesake: Chile chocolate torte

This chili chocolate torte is rich, slightly spicy, and sinfully delicious. But keep reading, my flour-averse friends, it’s even gluten-free! It uses ground almonds and eggs to hold it together, along with bittersweet chocolate, sugar, coffee, butter or oil and Mexican spices. This torte is perfect served with some spiced whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. I basically modified a Better Homes & Gardens recipe to come up with this gluten-free version. I also tried to make it low-lactose, but it is best with butter, and milk-free chocolate is surprisingly hard to find here in Mexico. Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whole almonds

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 lb. + 3 oz. Mexican chocolate, such as Turin or Ibarra, and/or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup butter or combination of butter and vegetable oil (use butter unless you are trying to go sans lactose)

6 egg yolks

1/4 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled

1.5 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder  (optional)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon  (divided use)

6 egg whites

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup whole almonds

Crushed chipotle chile pepper (optional)

melted chocolate mixture

Toast the almonds on a cookie sheet at 400 for around 7-10 minutes, stirring once or twice,  until they have deepened in color and give off an strong aroma.

Turn your oven to 325 F or 163 C. Coat one spring form or two smaller cake pans with butter or cooking spray (the picture is one of two cakes I made using this recipe and two smaller pans). I would recommend also coating the bottom of the pan(s) with greased wax paper (which I can’t seem to find here in Mexico). I just make sure the pan is really well greased, though the cake sticks to the pan a bit – especially if you don’t dust it with flour. You can also dust the greased pan with flour if there are no allergies, or with cinnamon and/or almond crumbs as I did to keep it gluten-free.

Place the 1 1/4 cups toasted almonds in a blender or food processor along with the 2 tbs sugar. Process until finely ground.

In a saucepan, combine the chocolate and butter/oil over low heat, stirring frequently until it is entirely melted and you have a smooth, velvety mixture – don’t let it burn!

Stir together the egg yolks, coffee, vanilla, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir in the ground almond mixture, the chocolate mixture, the chipotle powder, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Adding the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and keep beating until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate/almond mixture. Now you are ready to pour the batter into the prepared pans and into the oven!

Bake the cake(s) 35-40 minutes or until just set. Remove from the oven and let them cool for at least an hour, then refrigerate for a couple hours.

For the garnishes: coat the remaining almonds with chipotle powder and cinnamon (you can shake them with the spices in a ziplock bag), and toast in the oven for 7-10 minutes. Whip the cream together with powdered sugar, cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla. Top the cake with both, as pictured. Voila!

Spiced whipped cream

Chile chocolate torte: finished product

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